VAMPIRE
Vampire is an Intamin Suspended Roller Coaster that I created a fully themed environment for. This was part of a contest where I was given 2 weeks to determine the environment design for a rollercoaster that had been passed on to me anonymously. I created a Multi-level station building with a themed indoor queue line, a tunnel section underneath the Final Brake Run, and various other infrastructure around the attraction.
Station Building Design Process
For this contest, I was assigned to develop a premade attraction’s environment and story. Due to the 2 week timeframe, I decided to have a lot of focus on the ride station structure, and utilise it as best as I could to convey the atmosphere I wanted to create. I chose to do a theme heavily inspired by Vampire at Chessington World of Adventures, and instead of a crypt I decided to make a medieval style church building. This allowed for the opportunity to have a large open air station platform, and an opportunity to make the inversion over the loading area to seem like it was “bursting” through the roof. Also, the terrain provided allowed for the station to be raised on a hillside, giving the ride plaza a spectacular sightline as guests walk up towards the structure into the building.
After researching the general form factor of Medieval churches, I settled on having a Bell Tower at the front of the building to serve as the main focal point. I then began to lay out the building frame structure, making sure to use industry standard IPE beams in the process and also factor in the ride’s safety clearance envelope. Once the frame was finalised, I was able to plan out the indoor queue line station platform and exit. I also allowed for a maintenance space to contain hardware such as the show controls and ride computers. To ensure that the guest flow onto the ride was optimised, I also added a baggage storage room to reduce dispatch times, and serve as a merge point for staff to check height requirements before guests entered the building. Finally, I made sure the building was able to comply with safety regulations, having at least 2 fire exits labelled and signposted towards in each individual room in the building
Once the functionality of the building had been planned, I was able to expand on the theme concepts I had planned when creating the floorplan and structure. The indoor queue was split into 4 rooms, each with their own distinct style. After guests have surrendered their baggage, they will enter the first room. In this small crypt, a coffin is in the centre of the room, illuminated by wooden style torches fixed to the rocky walls. Behind it is a small scene of bats hanging in a small section of a cave, with an ambient purple light pulsing slowly. The second room offers an unobstructed view of the attraction out of small arched windows, so guests are able to get a taste of what they are about to experience. The third room contains a blood fountain, and various bookshelves and coffins surrounding the space too. Entering the final room guests are greeted with framed paintings hung on the wall, and a dining table adorned with candles and shiny metal plates.
